Divergent: Review

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Release Date: May 2011
Published By: HarperTeen
Genre: Dystopian
Pages: 496
Goodreads Rating: 4.55 stars

Review: In the future, people in Chicago are in one of five factions - Erudite, Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, and Amity. Those in Erudite take in as much knowledge as they can, those in Candor never lie, those in Abnegation live without luxuries, those in Dauntless live without fear, and those in Amity strive to be kind to all. And then, of course, there are the untouchable Factionless. When teenagers turn sixteen, they must take an aptitude test that shows which faction they're naturally inclined to, and then choose whether to stay with their original faction or change. Beatrice, born in Abnegation, chooses Dauntless and changes her name to Tris. She has to be strong and brave to survive the horrifying initiation process, which only the top ten pass. But more than that, she has to keep it a secret that the results of her aptitude test were out of the ordinary, because there are people out there who won't hesitate to kill her for it.

It was a very pleasant surprise to receive this in the mail the other day. I'd heard about this book here and there but hadn't read any reviews. Still, the cover was all pretty and shiny, so I finished the book I was currently reading and moved on to this one without really any expectations at all. But honestly? I could have had the highest of expectations and still wouldn't have been disappointed.

I know it's early in the year, but this is so going to make my top books of 2011 list. Seriously, this book was amazingness and awesomeness and epicness all wrapped in one. There were action scenes that sent my heart pounding, romantic scenes that made me swoon, and such character depth that I wanted to steal Veronica Roth's writing skills.

Tris was incredibly strong and brave while still being a flawed, sometimes vulnerable character. She reminded me a lot of Katniss in The Hunger Games, but in a good way. There are actually a lot of similarities between this book and Hunger Games, but don't get me wrong - this is still very much its own book, with its own plot and twists and characters.

Every time I started to reach the end of one page, I was already itching to flip it to the next. This is the kind of book you stay up all night reading because you can't possibly put it down, kind of book that you can't really write a sensible review for, because all you can do is shove it in people's faces and demand they read it right now. And that's what I'm saying to you guys: read it right now. Or rather, when it comes out in May.

FTC Disclosure: I received a free advanced copy of this book from the publisher. This in no way affected my review, which is 100% honest.